As appreciated by those skilled in the art, shoe trees are typically made of solid blocks of wood, a combination of wood and metal, or metal alone, all of which can be heavy, expensive to manufacture, complex to use, and bulky to pack when traveling. As also appreciated by those skilled in the art, as the shoe trees made of wood are washed, they take considerable time to dry and must be completely dry before they can be reused to prevent deterioration of such shoe tree.
Other prior art shoe trees are adjustable and require the use of metal springs to give the shoe tree flexibility, or require the use of some type of compression component or spacer bar to facilitate the insertion and removal of the shoe tree from a shoe. Such springs, compression components, and spacer bars increase the manufacturing costs of such shoe trees, increase the complexity of manufacture, and increase the possibility of breakage or malfunctioning of the shoe trees.
One of the prior art designs of the shoe tree includes a shoe tree and an electrically operated disinfecting device such as an ultraviolet light emitting lamp. The shoe tree is inserted in a shoe and the disinfecting lamp inhibits the growth of fungi and other microorganisms, particularly those which cause athlete's foot or unpleasant odor. A control box for operating the lamp can include a timer and ballast.
Another prior art design includes a shaping apparatus for an article of footwear is provided to maintain the shape of the shoe. An insertable apparatus includes a toe shaping member. A medial shaping member may engage a medial side of the upper. A lateral shaping member may engage a lateral side of the upper. The medial shaping member and lateral shaping member are resiliently disposed on the toe shaping member. A rear biasing member may be attached to the medial shaping member and the lateral shaping member.
Still another prior art design is directed to an inflatable shoe tree that is easy to inflate and that is highly suitable for use both at home and for travel and includes a unitary body having, an interior gas tight chamber, a toe portion, a heel portion, a central portion between the toe portion and the heel portion, a bottom portion, a top portion, and an inflation portion that allows for a volume of gas to enter and exit the gas tight chamber. The body is capable of being in an inflated position and a deflated position, and when in an inflated position it forms a preformed three-dimensional structure substantially in the shape of a human foot, and when the shoe tree is in a fully deflated position, it is substantially flat in shape.
Accordingly, there is a need for a unique shoe tree that overcomes the problems associated with known prior art shoe trees.
Another object is to provide an economical and cost-effective design of a shoe tree.
These and other problems have been solved by the improved system and method described below.